CTG Partners with Upstate New York Cities to Combat Urban Blight

The cities of Amsterdam, Gloversville, Schenectady, and Troy recently received a $558,002 New York Department of State Local Government Efficiency Grant to partner with CTG in developing a pilot program in these four capitol region cities to combat urban blight through an innovative information sharing initiative.

This pilot project will allow for critical information sharing of code enforcement related data so that communities can make more informed decisions and take proactive steps to combat blight. This program could provide the long-term basis for a state-wide strategy to better share data and develop best practices for this major issue. In the process, each of these participating communities will be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their own code enforcement operations. CTG will begin working with the four cities this year and continue for two years.

Theresa Pardo Named to U.S. EPA's National Advisory Committee

Theresa A. Pardo, Ph.D. has been appointed to a two-year term as a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Advisory Committee (NAC). The U.S. NAC advises the U.S. Representative (the Administrator of the EPA) to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation on specific U.S. government policy issues related to the implementation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. 

The Committee is responsible for providing recommendations to help assure that business and industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations are represented in the development of U.S. policy positions regarding implementation of the Environmental Supplemental Agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Committee meets several times a year to discuss, draft, and publish a set of recommendations to inform policy decisions.